Rioters looted shops in central Frankfurt late on Saturday, October 31, as Germany Gen Z protests over the cost of living turned violent. Clashes also erupted in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg, according to the BBC.
Frankfurt police said "violent riots" were taking place in the city centre and that the windows of several shops had been smashed, according to the Straits Times. Police said Molotov cocktails were thrown at emergency services, the Straits Times reported.
Police said a gun shop’s windows were smashed and that a suspect was arrested and two weapons seized. The BBC reported that people also broke into other shops and stole trainers and other items.
In Berlin’s evening protest, 27 police officers were injured and up to 56 people were temporarily detained, Berlin police said, according to the BBC. The Straits Times reported no figures for Berlin. In Hamburg, public broadcaster NDR reported that 120 people were arrested, the BBC said.
The protests were organised by the campaign group Gen Z regelt. Its spokesperson, Lina Friedrich, said the protests were "to fight for peace and freedom, rather than for war and coercion" and opposed compulsory military service, according to the BBC.
Protesters’ complaints included underfunded schools, the cost of living, public spending cuts, sharply increased military spending and a new voluntary service model seen as a possible step toward conscription. The demonstrations followed similar youth-led mass protests in France, where more than 320,000 people demonstrated on Saturday.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told Bild that police prevented "violence like that seen in Paris" overnight. He called for "harsh punishments" for rioters and looters, the BBC reported.
Roman Poseck, interior minister of Hesse, said "around 100 clearly identified left-wing extremists" infiltrated the Frankfurt protest, according to the Straits Times. The Straits Times also reported that the Gen Z regelt movement explicitly rejected violence.
The number of protesters on Saturday is disputed. BBC World reports that authorities in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin counted as many as 18,000 protesters, about half the organisers’ website estimate, while German media say tens of thousands protested. The Straits Times reports that Gen Z regelt said some 120,000 people took part. Al Jazeera, available to this outlet only as a headline and short excerpt, said the protests spread across 34 German cities, but no other source confirmed that figure.
Several gaps remain. No official total of arrests in Frankfurt has been given, with police saying only that many arrests were made. No confirmed nationwide protester count exists, and the figures from authorities, German media and the organisers conflict. Police and organisers’ responses beyond the quoted statements are limited, and the Gen Z regelt reaction to the violence appears only in a general statement. The Berlin injury and detention figures come from the BBC alone.
Berlin has been in contact with officials in France and Italy amid fears that radicals from overseas could join the German protests, the BBC reported. Dobrindt’s call for harsh punishments for rioters and looters stands as the government’s stated response so far.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.